The VLW Blog

Charles Edward Reed III might well have been as guilty as a Stafford County Circuit Court jury found him to be in June 2005.
But there was a significant problem in the trial for murder and three related counts that netted Reed a sentence of life plus 38 years for what witnesses said was a killing [...]

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Norfolk City Council has learned that an employee of its Community Services Board collected a salary and benefits for 12 years without going to work.
The identity of the employee – who has been fired – and the circumstances that allowed such absenteeism haven’t been disclosed, but City Council members said they expect to discuss them [...]

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A fire marshal threw the book at two Herndon bartenders for their pyrotechnics, but Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said felony charges will be dismissed.
The Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern employees were arrested in July after performing the “flaming bartender,” a trick that involved spitting alcohol onto a flame to create a bigger ball of [...]

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Virginia could tighten regulations on clinics providing first trimester abortions according to an opinion released Monday from state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
Reviewing Virginia’s health regulatory scheme and a 2000 opinion from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Cuccinelli said regulations addressing medical and safety aspects of providing abortions, as well as [...]

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Update 2010/08/24, 9:20 a.m.
While Dennis Belcher’s expertise in handling big-dollar arrangements for families no doubt played a role in the firm’s representation of Elin Nordegren in her divorce from Tiger Woods, there’s a more direct connection. Nordegren’s twin sister, Josefin Lonnborg, is an associate in MW’s London office.
McGuireWoods LLP is one of the firms representing [...]

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The Virginia Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission has elected a new chairman and vice chairman.
Effective Sept. 15, Fauquier lawyer James P. Fisher will succeed Norfolk lawyer Martin A. Thomas as chair of the commonwealth’s judicial oversight agency. Fisher, Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney in Loudoun County, is the current vice chairman. The commission elected Olivia A. [...]

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Albemarle County Circuit Judge Paul Peatross announced Friday he would decide in ten days the University of Virginia’s court challenge to civil investigative demands issued by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli seeking documents related to climate change research.
As reported by The Daily Progress, the judge heard oral arguments Friday afternoon. Cuccinelli’s office followed with a [...]

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Although faulty eyewitness identification has been the basis for most of the convictions overturned by DNA evidence, it’s tough to get an appellate writ granted, much less have a conviction reversed, when the judge or jury believes the witness.
So it was no surprise that Maurice James Ward’s challenge to a robbery victim’s identification of him [...]

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The Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board has summarily suspended the license of Winchester lawyer Gary Lance Smith on impairment grounds.
In its order entered Tuesday, the board said Smith suffers from diabetes, “the complications of which prevent him from practicing law at the current time.”
Earlier this month, the VSB’s office of bar counsel asked the Winchester [...]

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Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today that Tom Davis and Owen Pickett, both lawyers former members of Congress, will be co-chairmen of his Commission on Military and National Security Facilities.
McDonnell said he decided to establish commission in response to a February meeting with the state’s congressional delegation and, more recently, the proposal of Defense Secretary Robert [...]

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